Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying yourselves
as we approach Thanksgiving. And while I have seen many a Thanksgiving run
(Phish 1995, 1998, 2009, WSP 1999, Devolver, too many to count), none compares
to what I observed in the fabled Fall Tour of 1997, aka Phish Destroys America.
So with no fanfare, here it is It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at the
Worcester Centrum Centre, November 28th and 29th, 1997,
Worcester, MA.
Having just witnessed the sickness that
was Hampton the weekend before Thanksgiving, I was out of my mind in
anticipation for the weekend after Thanksgiving. My first show in Massachusetts,
the closest shows to Vermont on the Tour, a holiday weekend, and their new
found jamming powers???? Peak human experience stuff right there folks.
Myself, Uncle Patrick (not my uncle, but
somebody’s) CC, and JS went up Black Friday morning, checked into our hotel and
then hit the Lot. Old school venue, a little bigger than Hampton, right
downtown in a post industrial suburb of Boston. OH YEAH!!!
SET 1: The Curtain > You Enjoy Myself [1] -> I Didn't Know, Maze, Farmhouse, Black-Eyed Katy, Theme From the
Bottom >Rocky Top
[1] No bass and drums segment.
YEM featured Crosseyed and Painless teases, did not include the
bass and drums segment, and ended with a shortened vocal jam that segued into I
Didn’t Know.
You can stream it here
And did I mention
November 28th was my birthday? And Uncle Patrick’s? How crazy is that. Got way out that night for
sure. YEM second song? Wow, the crowd
went apeshit and this had a nice long jam with some sick teases and then a
great transition into I Didn’t Know. All high energy in the first set. Then the
second set, Aye Curumba! The Timber has some great jamming as did Limb by Limb
but the monster is the Ghost. Just pure 1997 awesomeness. Slave was almost like
a breather before we got, I don’t know, DESTROYED by Phish. Like I said, peak
human experiences. First real birthday show in the books. Let’s go rest up for night
2!
Pretty sure this was the night where our
seats were right behind some people from Hanover. Uncle Patrick knew them but I evidently had
met them before but just didn’t recall. We were up near the top on Page’s side. I have
seen many shows from that general vicinity, but this was the best.
SET 1: The Wedge, Foam , Simple -> The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, The Sloth, Ginseng Sullivan, Saw It Again, Horn, Water in the Sky, David Bowie
[1] Almost an hour long.
[2] Trey imitated Robert Plant's intro to Moby Dick from the album The Song Remains the Same.
[2] Trey imitated Robert Plant's intro to Moby Dick from the album The Song Remains the Same.
This Runaway Jim is one of the longest versions of any song ever
played by Phish. It ran slightly under an hour and included Beauty of My
Dreams, Harry Hood, and Super Bad teases and a strong Weekapaug jam where
the entire melody of Weekapaug was played. Buffalo Bill was announced as Fish’s
favorite song. Moby Dick was performed for the first time since February 19,
1993 (435 shows) and featured Trey imitating Robert Plant’s intro to Moby Dick
from the album The Song Remains the Same.
You can stream it
The show starts off
fine enough. The Foam is really sweet
with jamming within its structure. Nice variety
and flow to the first set. Dipping their toes into almost all the styles of the
band and a Bowie to end the first set. Hell yes.
Then the second set.
They open up with Runaway Jim. About 7 minutes into it, they start going
outside the structure of the song. Around the 14 minute mark, they find a new
theme and start to bring it. Most bluesy and noodle, but still moving places
and keeping us engaged. Around the 22 minute mark, another charging jam takes
us onward. At some point, I thought that this was going to be the entire second
set. Little did I know we were only half way done with Jim. After 49 minutes,
they venture as close as they would come from leaving the song. They definitely
do a serious Weekapaugh Jam but Phish tracks doesn’t consider it separate and
neither does phish.net nor my tape I had back in the day. One side of the J
card just said Runaway Jam. When they do finally get to the end of the song, it’s
Strange Design for all of us to sit back and try to come to terms with what the
hell we just witnessed. The Tahoe Tweezer edges this out as the greatest thing
I ever saw because of the audience participation aspect of it. Yes, the Wooing.
Nice transition from
Hood to Prince Caspian and then Suzy G to finish the second set. But they weren’t
finished yet. A short triple encore with Moby Dick. Wow, it was almost too
much. Seriously, what a night.
I know what some of
you are thinking; You were up there, why didn’t you stick around for the last
night? Believe me, I really wanted to but I think work was the issue. I know I
made myself super clear to JS and CC that we were leaving on Sunday. It led to
a little bit of drama but oh well. No permanent hard feelings, besides my own
anger over missing a sick ass show. But sometimes reality intrudes, even on
Phish Tour.
So there you have it.
While I wish I could have seen more shows on this Tour, like close to home
shows in State College and 2 mid-week nights in Philly, I still feel lucky and
blessed to have witnessed my favorite musicians peaking out and giving us the
pure unfiltered HOSE.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
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